Somatic embryogenesis in cucumber cell suspension culture is a convenient tool to study differential gene expression, particularly during the early stages of this process. In this study, we used the cucumber somatic embryogenesis system to detect genes that were differentially transcribed during the induction of embryo development. We identified and cloned 120 candidate cDNA fragments from differential display gels. The selected cDNAs were confirmed by reverse northern, and 83 were sequenced. The obtained sequences represent 64 independent transcripts. The search for similarities in the databases gave a significant result in 16 cases. The potential involvement of these sequences in somatic embryogenesis is discussed.